My speakers don't "dissapear"

My bet is that the coffee table between the speaker and listening position is a major problem area. If it cannot be moved elsewhere, I would at least put things on the table to diffuse the reflection, such as magazines, art objects, some kind of cloth covering, etc.

As far as room treatment, most of the serious audio treatments are pretty ugly and intrusive. Wall coverings (tapestries) on large, flat surfaces do a really good job with higher frequencies and can actually look good too. Some people also used potted plants in corners of the room to act as diffusers (I personally have not tried this, I use stacks of 16" ASC tube traps).

I would certainly hold off on trying alternative speakers/gear. Your speakers should be good at imaging, and if they are not, the problem most likely lies elsewhere. I would concentrate on trying different placement and geometry (toe-in, angle between the speakers and the listener, backwards tilt, etc.).

Well, here is what I did. I tried most all suggestions, but the three that worked best for me were these:

1. Move speakers more forward, away from the plasma TV. Coffee table has magazines and other objects on it already to diffuse any reflections.

2. Fire the speakers with less toe in. They are firing almost straight ahead with good results.

3. Move the speakers closer to each other. I had them about 8 or 9 feet apart, and now they are closer to 6~7 feet apart. My listening position is about 7 feet away.

The third change made the biggest difference. I was anticipating a soundstage width collapse, but the exact opposite occured! Even the lowest of the bass improved and the overall bass to midbass range smoothed out significantly.

I moved a lounge chair into one corner as well and I think that also contributed to a smoother lower end.

All in all, it's a huge improvement than before. Certain recordings "dissapear" more than others now. It's at the point where it's approaching what I heard at the dealer. I'm hoping that some more burn in will settle things down a bit more.

Aren't you glad that you didn't waste a bunch of money on cables ? You used good common sense solutions instead of voodoo- and they did not cost you a cent. Good lesson learned.

Musicnoise gives sage advice, but don't think that better cables are all voodoo....when your system is ready and so is your spirit of inquiry, demo some MIT cables and let me know what you think. The cable company and/or Joe Abrams at Equus audio can help you out.

Good to hear that things are looking up. I am not surprised that No. 3 worked best. With the kind of spread you had, you probably had a big hole in the middle of the stereo image. Most listeners seem to prefer a triangle, defined by the center of the speaker to center of speaker and to the listener's head, that is and equilateral triangle or narrower than an equilateral triangle. So, if you are seven feet from each speaker, the centers of the speakers should be 7ft apart or less. If the center image is still to diffused, more toe-in will help.